Warriors begin second half of long road trip

The end result of a four-game road stretch has yet to be determined, but for now, the Hawai’i basketball team is satisfied with its unique itinerary.

The Warriors departed Honolulu on Tuesday afternoon, ending a 48-hour stay at home in the middle of a four-game road stretch. Head coach Gib Arnold said the main reason for the return to campus was so that the players could catch up with their academic classes.

“All the guys were able to go to two days of school, which was the most important thing,” Arnold said. “And we were able to get two practices in.”

The Warriors went 1-1 on the first half of the road trip last week – losing at Cal Poly, then earning their first road win of the season at UC Santa Barbara. They returned to Honolulu on Sunday afternoon, and attended classes on Monday and Tuesday morning.

The road swing will continue this week with Big West Conference games at UC Riverside on Thursday, then at Cal State Fullerton on Saturday.

Senior point guard Jace Tavita said: “We will see. I think it was (worth coming home), just to come back here and get our minds right, getting back home, sleeping in our own beds, stuff like that.”

Had the Warriors opted to stay in Southern California for the entire road swing, the players would have missed eight consecutive days of classes.

“I think we’re still trying to find what is best,” Arnold said. “Hopefully we won’t have four straight road games (in the future), that’s a little tough. But if we do come across that, we’ll see. It’s a little bit of a learning process with the new conference.”

Because of the quick turnaround, the Warriors went through a 6 a.m. practice on Tuesday – before classes started.

“It was good,” Arnold said. “Those morning practices are always a little bit hit and miss, but the guys were bouncy and came ready and were really focused, so I was pleased.”

The Warriors will also practice in Riverside, Calif., on Wednesday – although not in the SRC Arena, where Thursday’s game will be played. The arena was only available late on Wednesday night, so the team will practice elsewhere earlier in the day. They will get a one-hour shootaround in the arena on the morning of the game.

GREAT EFFORT WHOLE GAME> SENIORS LEAD< REBOUND < GET OFFENSIVE PUTBACKS AND O RESETS. TEAM CAN WIN! TOUGH ROAD SWING, GUYS WILL BE TIRED . IF THEY CAN GET RIVERSIDE W, GO ALL OUT AGAINST A GOOD FULLERTON TEAM, IF UH MBB TEAM COMES BACK 2-0, THE SSC WILL BE ROCKING NEXT WEEK.

AT MINIMUM GUYS, GET SPLIT, HOWEVER PLAY TO WIN. YOU GUYS, PLAY BIG BOY BB, PLAY PHYSICAL, AND KEEP ON PLAYING , NO HEAD HANGING, YOU ALL CAN DO IT!

It’s been well said, to be a good team you have to be able to win on the road. This team is 1-4. That’s why Shoji and Coolen have good teams. Chow didn’t win a road game. Wade’s team poor. Laura Beeman’s team is showing spunk with 2 road wins already. But, Wade’s team showing signs of life. Hope Arnold, coaches, and players find the right formula. UC Riverside is a dangerous team and they are desperate for a win. And it’s a revenge game for them. Riverside should be favored.

Riverside has been playing very well as of late. After their game with Hawaii, they took Fullerton to the wire, Long Beach to overtime, and played Pacific/Davis tough (although UC Davis was without Hawkins).

Yet, they don’t particularly matchup well against Hawaii’s zone (if Coach decides to use it), as they have only one good shooter. But anything is possible, since our guys will probably be weary from their third flight over the Pacific ocean in 7 days.

WINNING THIS WEEK Helps Create “Separation”
ON THE ROAD Is WHERE WE EARN Our Way to the TOP
Or At Least Upper Half

COMMENTS like these Hardly Matter UNLESS We Match it with WINS
Some of Us think the Talent & Size on This Team CAN/WILL Earn it’s Way to the Top
Even as we “Learn” to Overcome This Year’s Backcourt Inexperience
ONE BW Coach already called Hawai’i “The Class of The Big West”
PLAY LIKE IT
WIN NOW .. This Week, MORE of The Team, More of The Time
Seniors & Juniors Like WE EXPECTED
and Young ‘Uns (They’re All Young) Help ‘Em Out!
KEEP Steppin’ Up Freshmen!

Love these guys! Great team on and off the court. But yes, I totally agree that they should start the seniors and juniors like the last game then sub in the rest of the guys. As long as they D up, put their hands up, box out, grab those rebounds then it should be in Hawaii’s favor (finger’s crossed).

To the warriors: Good luck! Get that W. We support you no matter what! 🙂

SRC Arena (2,750) — Uhhh… That’s not an arena. It’s a glorified high school gym.

UH just needs to take care of business vs a poor Riverside squad. I expect a solid victory tomorrow. As long as Vander stays out of foul trouble and the guys show the intensity they did vs UCSB, UH should roll ’em.

Maybe Play like a WAC team. Physical, strong, inside out game, up and down, D up, just play WACKY. Nah, just half kidding, UH MBB, cannot play finesse game, go to strengths, they have to play with effort and passion and D up very strong, from inside to 3 line, pressure, traps, the whole package. No real excuse on scout, this is second time around for UH having played all 9 teams already.

Bigs play with intensity and passion like Christian Warrior, smalls, with smarts and leadership like Captain Hauns, throw, in Jawato getting hot again, UH, if they can score in high seventies, shot to win. They have to play 40 minutes of smart, tough, not weak basketball, Play to win, not to lose.